1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an environmental control system for the regulation of the temperature and humidity of air within a desired area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There exists today a wide variety of products whose purpose is to provide a means of producing and maintaining a desired climatic condition in homes and businesses. This is usually accomplished by temperature and/or humidity sensitive devices signaling air conditioning or heater units to operate until a desired pre-set environment is attained.
While it is desirous to have a comfortable environment, with the cost of energy skyrocketing there is a general concern over the amount of energy wasted under present systems and efficiency and cost cutting means are more than ever being employed.
For example, in the home it is not necessary to maintain a set temperature 24 hours a day. Thermostats may be adjusted to a time sequence providing a cooler temperature at night in the winter months. The same is true for business perhaps to an even greater extent in facilities on the 9-to-5, 5-day work schedule.
Humidity control is less flexible than temperature. Important, however, is the coordinating the humidity control with the temperature control since the energy expended in temperature maintenance is directly affected by the amount of humidity in the air.
The combining and coordinating temperature and humidity control is not new and a number of examples may be found in the prior art. However, many of these systems utilize components and parts which are in developing stage or out-dated and no longer available, making them commercially unfeasible.
The environmental control systems presently on the market rely heavily upon electronic switching, requiring a relatively large number of moving complex parts with complicated adjustment. These are expensive to manufacture and assemble. Further, with the constant new developments, equipment is outdated in short time, and disappears from the market. Replacement of worn-out or defective parts involves a complicated, time-consuming procedure when available at all. This is aside from the inconvenience and expense incurrent when the system is inoperative.
There exists a need for a system which will be relatively simple and reliably accurate consisting of a minimum number of moving parts and parts which are commercially standard, easily acquired and replaced when necessary. As the consumer becomes more directly affected by the energy situation the demand exists for a system that will utilize to the fullest extent the energy used and is versatile enough to be adopted to the many different demands while remaining of relatively low cost.